A Redwood City man who apologized after robbing a bank in Redwood Shores was sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Carmen Polito walked into the Provident Credit Union at 210 Redwood Shores Parkway on July 23, 2013, and handed a teller a note demanding money and warning “no trackers, no tracers and no cops for 10 minutes,” according to information provided by the district attorney’s office. In a similar fashion, he asked a second teller for money and left the bank with $4,470.95 in his backpack.

Before leaving, Polito told the tellers, “I’m sorry, I really love the government,” according to the district attorney’s office.

Distinctive tattoos picked up by surveillance camera footage helped identify the robber. Officers arrested Polito the same day of the robbery and found stolen currency on him, according to Redwood City police.

He has been in custody since, with bail set at $250,000.

Polito pleaded no contest to one count of second degree robbery on March 10, the morning of his scheduled jury trial, on the condition that he would receive no more than three years and eight months in state prison.

On Wednesday, Criminal Presiding Judge Jonathan Karesh sentenced Polito to three years behind bars after being presented with a letter from an in-custody drug treatment program stating that the 30-year-old was doing well. His defense attorney, Savas Loukedis, also argued that Polito had a bad upbringing, Wagstaffe said.

He said that Polito declared in court that he now has “more patience than the Dalai Lama.”